With no apartment of her own to return to, Keira had no choice but to go to Bryn's after work that night. She took the elevator up to her sister's apartment, dragging her still packed luggage behind her. She was utterly exhausted from lack of sleep over the last day, and all the writing she'd done on the plane. But when Bryn opened the door, smiling brightly, Keira instantly felt herself perk up.
"Sis!" Bryn cried. "I've missed you so much!"
The two sisters hugged. Keira felt so grateful to be back in her sister's company.
Bryn ushered Keira inside and led her to the kitchen. There was a bottle of wine and two glasses waiting on the counter for them. Bryn poured them both a glass and hopped onto a stool.
"Tell me everything. The time difference has been a bitch. And then you haven't replied to any of my texts or calls for like forty-eight hours. I was starting to worry your plane had gone down or something."
Keira raised an eyebrow. She'd forgotten how loud Bryn's voice could be. How many words seemed to tumble from her mouth before she took a breath. She'd become entirely unaccustomed to the pace of New York City life.
"I'm here, alive," she said. "I was just a bit busy." She smiled to herself as her memories of Shane replayed in her mind.
Bryn looked at her suspiciously. "Busy doing what? Or should I say who?"
Keira tsked aloud at her sister's crassness. "If you must know, I was with Shane."
"Still?" Bryn exclaimed, eyes widening.
"It was more than just a hookup," Keira said. "It was a whirlwind love affair."
"You mean lust affair," Bryn said. "Don't you? I mean no one can fall in love that quickly."
Keira just shrugged. "I met people who fell in love at first sight. People who married within twenty-four hours of meeting. There's really no right or wrong way to do love. When you find it, you find it."
Bryn looked unimpressed. "But he lives in Ireland, sis. You're never going to see him again. And the novelty of FaceTime will wear off soon enough."
Keira herself had to admit that Bryn had a point. Things with Shane had been left in the air. The sensible part of her kept telling her that nothing would ever come of it, that what they had existed in just that one point and one location in time, that she should be happy to have even had the chance to experience it. But the wild, romantic side of her that had been unleashed by the encounter wanted something different. It didn't want to let go, give up, or rest. It wanted to fight for love.
Bryn took a big swig of her wine. "What's the deal with you and Zach, then? Are you moving out? Because I mean you can stay here as long as you want, honestly, but also you know how particular I am and how much I need my me time, you know? I mean work is insane at the moment and I'm hardly getting any sleep so it's like super important that things are chill at home. I checked with Mom and she said it's cool to stay with her if you need to."
Keira looked at her sister and sighed. As much as she loved Bryn, she couldn't help but wish her sister could be a little more supportive like the Lawder girls. She realized then how much she missed not just Shane, but his family too.
"I just need to be in New York City for work while I'm finishing up the article," Keira explained. "But I have a feeling that won't take too long. I'll be out of your hair soon enough."
She smiled to herself, looking up at the clock and counting down the minutes until the piece went live. Instead of scared, she found herself feeling excited. It was thrilling to know she'd rebelled against Joshua. And unlike the trash piece she'd written before, she was proud of this one. She couldn't wait for Shane, Orin, William, Maeve, the Lawders-all the people she'd met and grown to love in Ireland-to read it.
*
Bryn's couch was so uncomfortable to sleep on, and the noise coming from the streets below so unrelenting, that Keira was almost relieved when she woke the next morning and remembered she was surely going to be fired today. She checked her phone and saw a message from Nina that had come in early in the morning saying the piece was live. Keira grinned to herself, knowing there was no going back now.
She grabbed a shower and drained a black coffee, then headed out onto the busy streets of New York City. The sheer volume of noise assaulted her, and she couldn't help but feel affected by all the miserable faces of the people hurrying past her on their way to work. She missed the tranquility of Ireland, the quiet, the happiness of its people.
She took a cab to work and went inside, seeing that she was the first to arrive. Nina came in next.
"Have you heard from Joshua?" Keira asked.
Nina shook her head. "Not yet. His painkiller schedule tends to knock him out for the night though. I think he'll be waking up around about now." She checked her watch and nodded. "So I'll give it another five minutes before he realizes what you've done."
They sat tight, waiting for the inevitable call, for the explosion that would be Joshua when he found out.
"We're getting some interesting stats on the website, by the way," Nina told Keira. She led her to her computer and logged on. "Your article's received about five times the amount of commentary we'd usually expect from our center piece."
Keira raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Traffic is always a good thing," Nina said. Then she clicked on the first comment. It was a gushing response to the article. "But you're getting a lot of positive feedback too."
Keira smiled to herself. "I wasn't expecting that," she said. "I thought it would be far too earnest for our readers. Aren't they all supposed to be ironic?"
"Maybe Josh has misjudged them," Nina said. Then she swiveled in her chair and looked up at Keira. "Or maybe irony is just a bit passé now. I think being genuine might be the next big trend."
Keira laughed. Just then they heard the doors swing open behind them. A handful of scared-looking junior writers scuttled in.
"Poor kids," Nina said. "This is their first day with Joshua in the office. He sent a mass email round last night saying he was going to whip the magazine back into shape, that they'd disappointed him while he'd been on sick leave by slacking off. He said he'd fire anyone who came in late."
Keira rolled her eyes, remembering the level of fear he'd instilled in her at the beginning. He really was a piece of work.
Nina's phone began to ring.
"And so it begins," she said.
She picked it up. Keira could hear Joshua's angry voice buzzing through the earpiece. Nina winced and held it an inch away from her ear.
"I did what?" she said, innocently, feigning ignorance. "The wrong piece? What do you mean?" She winked at Keira then tapped some keys on her keyboard. "Oh my goodness, you're right. Boy, do I feel like a fool now. Pull the piece? Are you sure? It's getting a lot of hits." She paused as Joshua's voice buzzed through. "No problem. You're the boss. See you soon." She hung up.
"Well? What did he say?" Keira asked, on tenterhooks.
"He's in a cab. He'll be here in five minutes. If your piece hasn't been taken down by the time he arrives he's going to, and I quote, 'make someone suffer.'"
"Cool," Keira joked.
Right on time, Joshua arrived five minutes later. He bombarded his way through the doors, his face red with fury. The new junior writers seemed to shrink in their seats, all averting their eyes and tapping at their keyboards feverishly to look as busy as possible. But Joshua wasn't interested in them at all.
"Keira. Nina. My office. Now!"
His voice echoed across the room.
"Show time," Keira whispered to Nina.
They headed into the office. Joshua was pacing up and down the room on his crutches, a sight that Keira found more amusing than intimidating.
"What the hell is going on?" he barked. "What is this crap?" He waved one of the newly pressed magazines in his hand. "A love letter to Ireland?"
"I don't know what happened," Keira lied. "I must have sent the wrong document to Nina."
Joshua glared at her. "Do you know how much money you're going to cost this company? We've already printed the magazines. Half of them have already been distributed. Not to mention the website. Thousands of people have already read this drivel."
Keira raised an eyebrow. "Thousands?" she said with an innocent voice. "That sounds like a lot considering it's only been live a few hours."
Joshua's face grew even redder. "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation, Keira. You've put the entire reputation of this magazine at stake!"
The volume of his voice was rising. Keira knew what that meant. He wanted his junior writers to hear him humiliate her.
"Plus," Joshua continued, "Heather sent me through some paperwork from your trip. The rental car company has charged us for damage to the vehicle. They said it was covered in sheep manure amongst other things. And how the hell did you manage to dent the roof?"
Keira smiled to herself as she remembered standing on top of the car with Shane, enjoying a beautiful, romantic moment. Just the memory of Shane's love felt like a protective shield around her.
"There might have been a couple of incidents," Keira replied nonchalantly. "Involving sheep."
Joshua threw his arms into the air with an angry exclamation. "Swanson, I've never been so disappointed in a writer before. You've brought shame to Viatorum magazine." His eyes sparkled with glee as he uttered his favorite words in the world. "Keira, you're fired."
"Why am I not surprised?" Keira shot back. She folded her arms and glared at Joshua. She suddenly realized that he didn't intimidate her at all anymore. She didn't care about his approval. In fact, him disliking her so much as to fire her caused a huge wave of relief to wash over her. She didn't want someone like Josh to like her. She didn't want to try to fit into his toxic version of the corporate environment.
"Do you know what you are, Joshua?" Keira continued. "You're a coward. You tear people down just so there's less competition. Nothing is ever good enough for you because all you're trying to do is crush people's spirits. It's how you've even gotten this far, isn't it? You just bully everyone around you until you're the last man standing!"
Through the meeting room's glass partition Keira could see people's heads craning around to see what was happening. They looked drawn and terrified. She remembered being one of them not that long ago, of watching with fear as Joshua humiliated and fired a staff writer just to prove a point. She remembered the way they'd just taken it, hadn't stood up for themselves. Well, not her. She was going to give Josh a piece of her mind.
Nina stood then. "If you're firing Keira then I quit."
"What?" Joshua yelled, incensed.
"It was as much my mistake as hers," Nina said calmly. "I was the one who uploaded the wrong piece. I should have double-checked it before I sent it off to the printer, before I uploaded it. I was slacking off."
Joshua looked at her incredulously. "That's not happening. I refuse to accept your resignation."
Keira smirked to herself. She wondered if anyone had ever quit on Josh before. He must have been so used to people fawning over him, pandering to his every whim, that to have someone throw it in his face must have been extremely unsettling.
Just then, they heard the sound of someone entering the office. They all turned and looked over to see Elliot towering over them. Heather hovered just behind him holding a black folder against her chest.
"Ladies, I'm sure it goes without saying that neither of you are fired," he said. "Joshua, on the other hand, pack your stuff and go."
Joshua faltered. He looked at Keira, confused, then back at Elliot. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I've reconsidered your position here," Elliot stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "I think you were close to steering this magazine toward disaster, and it's only thanks to Keira here that we've corrected our course. You've gone off the boil ever since that unfortunate accident with the macchiato."
"What are you saying?" Joshua said. His face had gone completely white. He looked like he was about to faint.
"I'm saying you're fired."
"NO!" Joshua exclaimed, leaping up and then wincing as he landed on his cast.
He hobbled toward Elliot, his hands clasped in prayer position. The entire writing staff sat watching with open mouths. No one could quite believe what they were witnessing, a grown man groveling for his job. The despot had finally been brought to his knees.
"Heather, can you arrange for security to escort Josh off the premises?" Elliot said calmly.
Keira felt a surge of satisfaction.
Then Elliot looked at Keira. "I have a new assignment for you. For you both," he added, looking at Nina. "You clearly work well as a team. Would you please join me in my office?"
Keira looked over at Nina, surprised by the turn of events. They left Joshua in a heap on the meeting room floor and walked past the staring eyes of the junior writers into Elliot's office.
"Please, take a seat," Elliot said.
Everyone sat.
"Keira, I'm impressed with your work. It takes a lot of guts to go against the grain. The Love Letter of Lisdoonvarna article is fast becoming our most read piece. The viewing figures are going through the roof! Our readers love it. I love it!"
Heather laid a piece of paper onto the table. It was a graph. "Our usual average viewings are this line," she said, pointing to one that showed a steady upward trend. "This is Keira's piece." She pointed at the red line that shot right up so quickly as to be practically vertical.
"I knew that irony was out," Elliot said. "Didn't I say that? It's all about sincerity these days. I don't know how I let Joshua convince me otherwise. Good thing someone here knows what they're doing."
Keira smiled with pride. "Thanks." This wasn't what she'd been expecting at all. She didn't know how to react.
"I want you to keep this up," Elliot said. "Make it a regular feature. Four-page centerfolds for each monthly issue. A different romantic location. What do you say?"
Keira blinked, shocked. "You want me to travel again?"
He nodded. "I'll draw up a list of locations. Paris. Rome. Valencia. How does that sound?"
Keira could hardly catch her breath. "It sounds like a dream come true."
"Wonderful," Elliot said. "Of course we'll negotiate a high fee going forward. If you'd be willing to accept this for the time being before we finalize the new figures that would be appreciated."
He slid two pieces of paper across the table, one for Keira and one for Nina. Keira picked hers up and saw it was a check. A check for $5,000! By the sound of Nina's gasp she could tell her friend had received an equally exciting bonus check.
Keira new immediately what she was going to spend her money on. Flights for Shane to come and visit her!
"Now I imagine you'll be wanting a bit of a break following your hard work on the Ireland piece," Elliot continued. "So let's schedule some time in the next week or so to talk about the new assignment. Heather can see to that."
Feeling triumphant and more powerful than ever, Keira nodded her agreement. She couldn't believe what was happening. Her honesty had taken her to a place she'd never anticipated, somewhere beyond her wildest dreams!
And the best gift of all was that she'd be able to see Shane again, sooner than either of them had anticipated. She swirled out of Elliot's office feeling over the moon and as light as a feather.